Sao Paulo was a bit of a let down. We were expecting great things from it, being such a big city and all, but to be honest, we weren’t impressed.

We arrived at the bus station in Paraty at 9am to get our tickets for the 9.40am bus, but there was only one seat left on that one so we had to get tickets for the 1:40pm bus. A lot of time to kill to wait but we managed it, guess we better get used to waiting around for buses! Arrived safely in Sao Paulo about half 7 and it was dark but we managed to find our way to the hostel. With John being a metro enthusiast he was in his element figuring out the metros to get.

We only spent the one day exploring Sao Paulo. The first area we went to was very dodgy, apart from a lot of wedding dress shops there was nothing much else to see so we got back on the metro and headed for Sé

. We went to the Catedral da Sé and caught Mass in Portuguese. We planned out the rest of the afternoon and just wandered around really. Didn't take many pictures! We walked through the Japanese quarter, the historical centre, took in the Teatro Municipal, walked by Praca da República and then into the Edifício Italia. This was about the only touristy thing other than the Cathedral in Sao Paulo. As we arrived on the 47th floor, the viewing deck, we were greeted with “you have until 4pm,” by a very gruff lady! This is because we were being ultimate (scabby) travellers by going between 3pm and 4pm when it’s free rather than paying R$15 admission or buying dinner in the extremely fancy piano bar restaurant. And when we say fancy, we mean really extravagant! It felt a bit weird walking around the viewing deck in our creased, rucksack tarnished clothes as the affluent diners tasted wines, nibbled cheeses and ate tiny expensive meals. Anyway we weren’t the only backpackers there and it was well worth the R$0 we paid! We took a few photos, saw some ‘unbelievable’ views and took in the city that is Sao Paulo, complete with it’s many many skyscapers!

Supermarkets are hard to come by in Sao Paulo as we discovered! Believe us, we tried to hunt out our dinner as we explored Vila Madelana and the areas nearby. Eventually that evening we found one after a lot of walking! And our homemade dinner, courtesy of John (amazing chef) was definitely well deserved that night. Next stop - Curitiba!